As some of you will know, Ben Wickham, a very close friend of mine from university sadly died last year, at the age of 37. He left behind a wife and young family.

Ben's sister Lorna has arranged and organised a 'straight-forward' and 'short' cycling event to commemorate Ben, and to raise money in his name. Myself and some others will be attempting this challenge in June this year.

How hard can it be? Well, to give you some statistics, 'Biking for Ben' will cover a distance of 630kms (~400 miles) over 6 days with an ascent of over 55,000 feet (10.5 miles, 15km), climbing 12 cols and spending well over 40 hours in the saddle.  All of the Cols (Mountains!) we will climb have featured in the Tour de France including the very famous Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aubisque and Col d’ Aspin, the three most used Cols in the 100 year history of the race.  In fact, for those who were watching last year, our route includes Stage 9 (Saint Girons to Bagneres-de-Bigorre) all but for the final climb.

Biking for Ben will start on Sunday 22nd June 2014 just outside Biarritz on the West coast of France and finish on Friday 27th June, just past Perpignan on the East Coast.

Take a look at http://www.biking4ben.org for further details...

Why am I telling you all of this? Frankly because we want to raise as much money as possible to add to the donations made in Ben's memory last year. Our chosen charity is "Winston's Wish" (http://www.winstonswish.org.uk/), the leading childhood bereavement charity in the UK. Winston's Wish offers practical support and guidance to bereaved children, their families and professionals.

Many of you have been very generous in the past when I've done charity rides etc, but I think it's fair to say that this is in a slightly different league! As such, if you can, your sponsorship once more would be very much appreciated. I won't ask for sponsorship for any other events in 2014 - promise!

Thanks in advance,

Steve

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